Paramount Television was an American television production/distribution company that was active from January 1, 1968 to August 27, 2006.

Its successor is CBS Television Studios, formerly known as CBS Paramount Television. Its predecessor is Desilu Productions.

Background[link]

The company was known for producing and distributing programs such as The Andy Griffith Show in the 1960s, Happy Days on ABC in the 1970s, Cheers and its spinoff Frasier on NBC in 1982 and 1993, the Star Trek franchise, Girlfriends in 2000 (with Grammnet Productions, 2006-2008 episodes by CBS Paramount Network Television) on UPN (later CW), Duckman in 1994 (with Klasky Csupo) on USA Network, and the daily Paramount staple Entertainment Tonight in 1981, among others.

Origins[link]

The predecessor company, Desilu Productions, was originally founded in 1950 by Lucille Ball (1911–1989) and Desi Arnaz (1917-1986) for the purpose of producing their sitcom, I Love Lucy, for the CBS network. It later produced Ball's follow-up series, The Lucy Show, as well as such other shows as Our Miss Brooks, The Untouchables, Mission: Impossible, Mannix, and Star Trek (the latter three would be continued under Paramount Television).

Paramount Pictures had made a couple of attempts in the mid-1950s to produce series themselves under the Telemount (Television + Paramount) banner. The first, Cowboy G-Men, was a joint effort with Mutual Broadcasting for syndication. The second, Sally starring Joan Caulfield, was a short-lived series on NBC during the 1957-58 season. Before that, Paramount owned a de facto television network, the Paramount Television Network, and had a stake in a full-fledged network, the DuMont Television Network; alongside outright ownership of two TV stations: KTLA in Los Angeles and WBKB (now WBBM-TV) in Chicago.

Another attempt by Paramount was known as Paramount Pictures Television. One of the series was Destination Space, a pilot to a proposed series that never got off the ground, produced in association with the CBS Television Network in 1959.

Sale and re-incorporation[link]

In 1967, Ball, by then sole owner of Desilu, sold the company to Gulf+Western Industries. Desilu was merged with G+W's movie studio (and Desilu's next door neighbor) Paramount Pictures, resulting in Desilu's re-incorporation as Paramount Television in December of that year. By that point, Paramount had pretty much distanced itself from television, having stopped production of its early shows, closed down its networks, and sold off the stations they owned.

They also sold off most of their early theatrical library (before 1950, for the most part) to such companies as EMKA, Ltd. (pre-1950 theatrical live-action sound features; now part of Universal Studios), U.M.&M. T.V. Corp. (most short subjects released through September 1950; now part of Paramount-owned Republic Pictures), Associated Artists Productions - also called a.a.p. [sic] for short (Popeye cartoons; now part of Time Warner's Turner Entertainment and Warner Bros. units), Harvey Films (most short subjects released between September 1950 and March 1962; now part of Classic Media), and National Comics (Superman theatrical cartoons; later DC Comics, now owned by Time Warner).

The first PTV production to premiere after the re-incorporation was Here's Lucy. Paramount only produced the first season however, selling their stake in the show to Ball after the season finale. The rights were later sold to Telepictures (owned by Warner Bros. Television).

Failed network plans[link]

Paramount Television had plans to launch a television network in the late 1970s, the Paramount Television Service, with a new Star Trek series as the cornerstone of the network. But these plans were scrapped, and Star Trek: Phase II was reworked into Star Trek: The Motion Picture.

Barry Diller, who came up with the 4th network idea, continued to pitch the idea to the board of directors. They continued to resist the idea until Diller left Paramount in 1984. He moved to 20th Century Fox, who agreed to launch a 4th network after Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation purchased the studio and several independent stations. The new network, the Fox Broadcasting Company, is now one of the top 4 major television networks in the United States.

Relationship with ABC[link]

In the past, the network which Paramount Television had the most success on was ABC^{[citation needed]}. Every year between 1969-1992, at least one long-running Paramount Television production was on the ABC lineup. The most successful PTV shows on the network were The Brady Bunch, Love, American Style (both from 1969-74), The Odd Couple (1970-75), Happy Days (1974-84), Laverne & Shirley (1976-83), Mork & Mindy (1978-82), Taxi (1978-82 on ABC, 1982-83 on NBC), Webster (1983-87 on ABC, 1987-89 in syndication), and MacGyver (1985-92). These were but a few of the Paramount Television productions to air on ABC. However, from 1992 on Paramount did not have much luck with ABC; despite several attempts, their ABC-mounted efforts were either short lived (The Marshal, Philly, Blind Justice) or found success on other networks (Clueless, Sister, Sister) after their original cancellations.

In contrast, for years Paramount Television had been relatively unsuccessful on the other two "Big 3" networks. After 2 long-running PTV shows on CBS (Mission: Impossible and Mannix, both of which were inherited from Desilu) ended in the mid-1970s, the company did not have another hit on the network until JAG moved over from NBC in the 1996-97 season and lasted 9 additional seasons on CBS. PTV also assumed production of the cult hit Star Trek on NBC from Desilu, but lasted only one full season under the Paramount Television banner on NBC and the studio did not have another hit on that network until Cheers and Family Ties premiered in 1982. From 1992 onward, as Paramount saw its success on ABC decrease, the studio found some more success on NBC, with such series as Wings and Cheers spin-off Frasier (this relationship was helped when Paramount sold its original TV station in Philadelphia, Fox affiliate WTXF-TV, to that network, allowing NBC to purchase former CBS O&O WCAU). Cheers, Frasier, and Wings shared some of the same key people, and there were even some crossovers.

The relations between ABC and Paramount were far more than just the line of successful television series. Paramount's old theater chain, United Paramount Theaters purchased the ABC network in 1953 and helped turn it into a major player. In 1974, Paramount sold its record label holdings, the Famous Music Group (which by that time included Paramount Records, Dot Records, and Blue Thumb Records, along with distribution of now Warner-owned Sire Records), to ABC (MCA, already the owner of Paramount's pre-1950 sound feature films, would acquire ABC Records in 1979, and the Paramount record holdings are now owned by Universal Music Group).

Between 1986 and 1995, three different Paramount series served as lead-ins to ABC's Monday Night Football, a weekly showcase of National Football League games. By far the most successful of these was MacGyver, which led in to MNF from 1986 through 1991. The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles, which aired during the 1992 season, and The Marshal, during the 1995 season, were not nearly as successful as MacGyver had been.

Ownership changes and library expansion[link]

In 1989, Gulf+Western was re-incorporated as Paramount Communications, named after the company's prime asset, Paramount Pictures (the name of which was also used for the company as a whole). That firm was sold to Viacom in 1994. Then, in January 1995, Paramount finally launched a TV network, the United Paramount Network, or UPN for short, co-owned with Chris-Craft Industries. PTV produced the bulk of the series airing on UPN, including the first program ever shown on the network, Star Trek: Voyager. UPN became 100% owned by Viacom in 2000 after Chris-Craft sold its share (its TV stations were sold to News Corporation).

The Viacom merger gave Paramount a larger TV show library as well, since Viacom had television production and distribution units as well prior to the Paramount acquisition (the distribution company, Viacom Enterprises, was merged into Paramount Domestic Television while the production company, Viacom Productions, continued as a PTV division until 2004).

Paramount continued to build its TV library. In 1999, Viacom acquired full interest in Spelling Entertainment Group, and the rights to Rysher Entertainment's TV holdings. That same year, Viacom acquired CBS, which had actually spun off Viacom in 1971. PTV began to produce more shows airing on CBS (it already produced JAG a former NBC production and Nash Bridges, having acquired the latter from Rysher), including such hits as JAG spin-off NCIS and Criminal Minds (with ABC Studios).

In 2000, Paramount Television acquired syndication rights to the DreamWorks Television-produced sitcom Spin City, anticipating Viacom's acquisition of DreamWorks by 5 years.

In 2004, Viacom Productions was folded into Paramount Television, ceasing to exist after 30 years of television production. The last series produced by Viacom Productions to premiere was The 4400 (which aired on USA, formerly part-owned by Paramount), the second season was then produced by PTV. It is also the last VP-produced show to be canceled, having suffered that fate in December 2007.

The fall and re-rise of Paramount Television[link]

The end of Paramount Television[link]

At the end of 2005, Viacom split into two completely separate companies, one of which was called CBS Corporation, the other retaining the Viacom name. Despite Paramount Pictures being owned by the new Viacom, the Paramount TV library was inherited by CBS, and Paramount Television was merged with CBS Productions on January 17, 2006, forming CBS Paramount Television. Paramount's final series was South Beach for UPN.

Because National Amusements retains majority control of both CBS Corporation and the new Viacom, CBS programs (both before and after the split) are still distributed by Paramount Home Entertainment.

UPN also became part of CBS Corporation, and a week after CPT was formed, CBS announced they were closing down UPN and merging it with The WB Television Network (owned by Time Warner) to form The CW Television Network, inheriting several series from both networks.

[edit] The end of the Paramount name on television

The company survived as CBS Paramount Television for three years. However, CBS began phasing out the Paramount name as early as 2007, when the American distribution arm was merged with King World Productions (bought by CBS just prior to the Viacom merger) to form CBS Television Distribution. The international distribution arm at first took up the CTD name as well, but later became CBS Studios International.

In 2009, CBS quietly announced that the Paramount name would be stripped from both the main company (CBS Paramount Television) and its production arm (CBS Paramount Network Television), with the latter being renamed CBS Television Studios, however Rules of Engagement (a co-production with Sony Pictures Television) is currently the last show on the air to bear the CBS Paramount Television banner..

With these transactions, Paramount's involvement in television - at least in name only since 2006 - came to an end after 70 years (when the experimental TV stations that later became KTLA and WBBM were founded). Paramount had been the first major Hollywood studio to be involved in television.

The return of Paramount in television[link]

When CBS Paramount Television was renamed to CBS Television Studios, Paramount Pictures joined forces with Trifecta Entertainment & Media in distributing the Paramount and Republic film libraries on television. Paramount is a co-owner (with MGM and Lionsgate) of Epix, a premium television network launched in October 2009. Thus, Paramount gained some involvement in television for the first time since 1959.

See also[link]

• Desilu Productions
• CBS Paramount Television
• CBS Paramount Domestic Television
• List of Paramount executives
• Paramount Domestic Television
• Viacom Productions
• Paramount Pictures
• List of television series produced by Paramount Television

External links[link]

• Paramount Television at the Internet Movie Database

David Hackel is an American television producer and writer, who is best known for creating, writing, producing the CBS sitcom, Becker, which starred Ted Danson and ran from 1998 until 2004. Aside from all his work on Becker, Hackel has also worked on different episodes of Frasier, The Love Boat, Wings, Dear John, Out of This World, Webster, Nine to Five, Fish, LateLine, Harper Valley PTA, Gridlock, Shirley, The Pursuit of Happiness.

He also writes an column for The Huffington Post.^[1]

External links[link]

• David Hackel at the Internet Movie Database

References[link]

This biographical article related to television in the United States is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. v t e

Eddie Murphy
Murphy at the Tribeca Film Festival for Shrek Forever After in 2010.
Birth name	Edward Regan Murphy
Born	(1961-04-03) April 3, 1961 (age 51) Brooklyn, New York, United States
Medium	Film, television, stand-up, music, books
Nationality	American
Years active	1976–present
Genres	Observational comedy, musical comedy, black comedy, satire, physical comedy, Dance Pop
Subject(s)	African American culture, race relations, racism, marriage, everyday life, current events, pop culture, human sexuality
Influences	Bill Cosby,[1] Richard Pryor,[1] Peter Sellers, Redd Foxx[1] Robin Williams,[1]
Spouse	Nicole Mitchell (1993–2006) (divorced) 5 children Tracey Edmonds (2008) (unofficial)
Domestic partner(s)	Melanie Brown (2006–07) 1 child
Notable works and roles	Axel Foley in Beverly Hills Cop Various on Saturday Night Live Shrek series

Edward Regan "Eddie" Murphy (born April 3, 1961) is an American stand-up comedian, actor, writer, singer, director, and musician.

Box office takes from Murphy's films make him the second-highest grossing actor in the United States.^[2][3] He was a regular cast member on Saturday Night Live from 1980 to 1984 and has worked as a stand-up comedian. He was ranked #10 on Comedy Central's list of the 100 Greatest Stand-ups of All Time.^[4]

He has received Golden Globe Award nominations for his performances in 48 Hrs, Beverly Hills Cop series, Trading Places, and The Nutty Professor. In 2007, he won the Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actor and received a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his portrayal of soul singer James "Thunder" Early in Dreamgirls.^[5]

Eddie Murphy's work as a voice actor includes Thurgood Stubbs in The PJs, Donkey in the Shrek series and the dragon Mushu in Disney's Mulan. In some of his films, he plays multiple roles in addition to his main character, intended as a tribute to one of his idols Peter Sellers, who played multiple roles in Dr. Strangelove and elsewhere. Murphy has played multiple roles in Coming to America, Wes Craven's Vampire In Brooklyn, the Nutty Professor films (where he played the title role in two incarnations, plus his father, brother, mother, and grandmother), Bowfinger, Norbit, and Meet Dave.

Early life[link]

Murphy grew up in the Brooklyn neighborhood of Bushwick.^[6] His mother, Lillian, was a telephone operator, and his father, Charles Edward Murphy, was a transit police officer and an amateur actor and comedian.^[1][7][8][9] His father died when he was young. When Murphy's single mom became ill, the eight-year-old Eddie Murphy and his older brother lived in foster care for one year.^[10] In interviews, the actor and comedian says that his time in foster care was influential in developing his sense of humour. Later Murphy and his older brother Charlie were raised in Roosevelt, New York by his mother and stepfather Vernon Lynch, a foreman at an ice cream plant.^[1] Around the age of 15, Murphy was writing and performing his own routines, which were heavily influenced by Bill Cosby and Richard Pryor.^[1]

Career[link]

Stand-up comedy[link]

Murphy performed stand-up at the same Bay Area Comedy Club as Robin Williams and Whoopi Goldberg. His early comedy was characterized by frequent swearing and sketches lampooning a diverse group of people (including WASPs, African Americans, Italian Americans, overweight people, and gay people). This racy content was akin to that of Richard Pryor, whom Murphy has credited as his inspiration to enter comedy;^[1] however, in his autobiography, Pryor Convictions, Pryor wrote that he found Murphy's comedy at times excessively insensitive. Murphy later apologized for insensitive jokes about gay people and HIV. The stand-up shows Delirious and Raw have been recorded and released.

1980s acting career[link]

Murphy in 1988

Murphy first earned attention as a regular actor at Saturday Night Live, and was credited with helping revitalize the series during its first true slump in quality in the early 1980s.^[11] Some of his notable characters included a grown version of the Little Rascals character Buckwheat,^[12] impoverished but street-wise children's show host Mr. Robinson (a spoof of Fred Rogers, who found it amusing),^[13] and Gumby,^[12] a harshly cynical version of the animated character; Murphy's take on the latter character spawned one of SNL's many catchphrases, "I'm Gumby, dammit!" Although Buckwheat was his most popular character, Murphy asked that he be retired because the actor grew tired of people asking him to "Do Buckwheat! Do Buckwheat!"; the character was assassinated on camera in front of 30 Rockefeller Plaza.^[14]

In 1982, Murphy made his big screen debut in the film 48 Hrs. with Nick Nolte.^[1] 48 Hrs. proved to be a hit when it was released in the Christmas season of 1982. Nolte was scheduled to host the December 11, 1982 Christmas episode of Saturday Night Live, but became too ill to host, so Murphy took over. He became the only cast member to host while still a regular. Murphy opened the show with the phrase, "Live from New York, It's the Eddie Murphy Show!" The following year, Murphy starred in Trading Places with fellow SNL alumnus Dan Aykroyd.^[1] The movie marked the first of Murphy's collaborations with director John Landis (who also directed Murphy in Coming to America and Beverly Hills Cop III) and proved to be an even greater box office success than 48 Hrs. In 1984, Murphy starred in the successful action comedy film Beverly Hills Cop.^[1] The film was Murphy's first full-fledged starring vehicle, originally intended to star Sylvester Stallone (who later tweaked the script as his own starring vehicle Cobra in 1986).^[1] Beverly Hills Cop grossed over $230 million at the box office and is 40th in the list of all-time total U.S. box office grosses (4th-highest amongst "R" rated films), after adjusting for inflation, as of March 2011^[update].^[15]

In 1984, Murphy appeared in Best Defense, co-starring Dudley Moore. Murphy, who was credited as a "Strategic Guest Star", was added to the film after an original version was completed but tested poorly with audiences. Best Defense was a major financial and critical disappointment. When he hosted SNL, Murphy joined the chorus of those bashing Best Defense, calling it "the worst movie in the history of everything". Murphy's Trading Places co-star Dan Aykroyd had originally written the character of Winston Zeddemore in Ghostbusters specifically for Murphy, but he was unable to commit at the time due to the Beverly Hills Cop shooting schedule. The part ultimately went to Ernie Hudson. Murphy was also offered a part in 1986's Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home, a role that, after being heavily re-written from comic relief to love interest, ultimately went to future 7th Heaven star Catherine Hicks. By this point^[16] Murphy's near-exclusive contract with Paramount Pictures rivaled Star Trek as Paramount's most lucrative franchise.

In 1986, Murphy starred in the supernatural comedy, The Golden Child.^[1] The Golden Child was originally intended to be a serious adventure picture starring Mel Gibson. After Gibson turned the role down, the project was offered to Murphy as it was subsequently rewritten as a partial comedy. Although The Golden Child (featuring Murphy's "I want the knife!" routine) performed well at the box office, the movie was not as critically acclaimed as 48 Hrs., Trading Places, and Beverly Hills Cop. The Golden Child was considered a change of pace for Murphy because of the supernatural setting as opposed to the more "street smart" settings of Murphy's previous efforts. A year later, Murphy reprised his role of Axel Foley in the Tony Scott-directed Beverly Hills Cop II. It was a box office success, grossing over $150 million. Producers reportedly wanted to turn the Beverly Hills Cop franchise into a weekly television series. Murphy declined the television offer, but was willing to do a film sequel instead.

Murphy was one of the last movie actors to sign an exclusive contract with a studio. In this case, it was Paramount Pictures, which released all of his early films.

Singing career[link]

Murphy is also a singer and musician, having frequently provided background vocals to songs released by The Bus Boys, which their song "The Boys Are Back in Town" was featured in 48 Hrs. and Murphy's comedy special Eddie Murphy Delirious. As a solo artist, Murphy had two hit singles, "Party All the Time" (which was produced by Rick James) and "Put Your Mouth on Me" in the mid-1980s (although he actually started singing earlier in his career, with the songs "Boogie In Your Butt" and "Enough Is Enough", the latter being a parody of Barbra Streisand and Donna Summer's 1979 song, "No More Tears (Enough Is Enough)". They both appear on his 1982 self-titled comedy album.) "Party All the Time" was featured on Murphy's 1985 debut album How Could It Be, which included a minor follow-up R&B hit in the title track, a duet with vocalist Crystal Blake. This track was written by Rusty Hamilton and was produced by Stevie Wonder's cousin Aquil Fudge after a brief falling out and bet with Rick James. In 2004, VH-1 and Blender voted "Party All the Time" number seven among the "50 Worst Songs of All-Time." Sharam used a sample of the song for the UK #8 hit "PATT (Party All The Time)" in 2006.

Murphy recorded the album Love's Alright in the early 1990s. He performed in a music video of the single "Whatzupwitu", featuring Michael Jackson. He recorded a duet with Shabba Ranks called "I Was a King". In 1992, Murphy appeared in Michael Jackson's "Remember the Time" alongside Magic Johnson and Iman.

Though uncredited, Murphy provided vocal work on SNL castmate Joe Piscopo's comedy single, "The Honeymooners Rap."^{[citation needed]} Piscopo impersonated Jackie Gleason on the single, while Murphy provided an imitation of Art Carney.

In Coming to America, he imitated Jackie Wilson when he sang "To Be Loved", but because the character he was playing had a thick accent, he had to sing it in character. In later years, Murphy performed several songs in the Shrek film franchise. In the first film, he performed a version of "I'm a Believer" in the film's final scene; in Shrek 2 he performed Ricky Martin's hit "Livin' La Vida Loca" along with co-star Antonio Banderas.

Murphy's all-time favorite singer is Elvis Presley.

Early 1990s career[link]

From 1989 until the mid 1990s, box office results and reviews for Murphy's films dropped, hitting a low point with the critically panned Beverly Hills Cop III (1994),^[17] a movie Murphy would ultimately denounce during an appearance on Inside the Actors Studio,^[1] although he did find box office success with Boomerang and Another 48 Hrs. Harlem Nights featured Murphy, who had previously been known only as a performer, as director, producer, star, and co-writer, with his brother, Charlie Murphy, as well as supporting roles for Murphy's comic idols Redd Foxx and Richard Pryor.^[1]

During this period Murphy was criticized by filmmaker Spike Lee for not using his show business stature to help black actors break into film, despite Murphy's films (especially those he produced) often being populated with predominantly black casts (Coming To America, Harlem Nights, Boomerang, Vampire In Brooklyn, Life). Many black actors who would later gain wider recognition make early appearances in Murphy films such as Damon Wayans in Beverly Hills Cop, Halle Berry and Martin Lawrence in Boomerang, Samuel L. Jackson and Cuba Gooding Jr. in Coming to America, Dave Chappelle in The Nutty Professor and Chris Rock in Beverly Hills Cop II.

Although Murphy has enjoyed commercial success since Saturday Night Live, he has never attended cast reunions or anniversary specials, nor did he participate in the making of the Live From New York: An Uncensored History of Saturday Night Live retrospective book by Tom Shales and James Andrew Miller (2002).

Comeback and image makeover[link]

Murphy's box office results began to recover in 1996, starting with The Nutty Professor. He followed with a series of very successful family-friendly movies like Mulan, Dr. Dolittle and its sequel, the Shrek series, Daddy Day Care, and The Haunted Mansion, along with Nutty Professor II: The Klumps. However, most of his movies meant for more adult audiences performed moderately; Metro, I Spy, and Showtime all ended to gross less than $40 million domestically, Holy Man performed poorly, grossing less than $13 million, and The Adventures of Pluto Nash is on record as one of the biggest theatrical money-losers of all time, grossing just $7 million worldwide on a reported $110 million budget. A notable exception to this run of poorly received adult-themed films was the Frank Oz comedy Bowfinger, also starring Steve Martin. The film garnered generally positive critical reviews, and grossed $98 million at the box office.

In 2006, he starred in the motion picture version of the Broadway musical Dreamgirls as soul singer James "Thunder" Early. Murphy won a Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actor, as well as a Screen Actors Guild Award and a Broadcast Film Critics Association Award in that category. Several reviews for the film highlighted Murphy's performance while he received some pre-release Academy Awards buzz.^[18] Murphy was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor on January 23, 2007, but lost to Alan Arkin for his performance in Little Miss Sunshine. Dreamgirls was the first film distributed by Paramount Pictures to star Murphy (who once was on an exclusive contract with the studio) since Vampire in Brooklyn in 1995.

In 2007, Murphy was invited to join the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.^[19] As a result of Viacom's acquisition of Dreamworks SKG, Paramount distributed his other 2007 releases: Norbit and Shrek the Third. He starred in the 2008 film Meet Dave and the 2009 film Imagine That for Paramount Pictures.

Murphy co-starred in Tower Heist, directed by Brett Ratner. Murphy played a thief who joins a group of hardworking men who find out they have fallen victim to a wealthy businessman's Ponzi scheme, and conspire to rob his high-rise residence. Ben Stiller, Matthew Broderick, and Casey Affleck also starred in the film, released on November 4, 2011.^[1][20][21]

It was reported in late 2011 that Murphy would host the 84th Academy Awards in 2012. However, he dropped out of his hosting duties on November 9, 2011, in the wake of the Brett Ratner scandal.^[22]

Personal life[link]

Family[link]

Eddie Murphy in Hollywood Walk of Fame

Murphy began a longtime romantic relationship with Nicole Mitchell (born January 5, 1968) after meeting her in 1988 at an NAACP Image Awards show. They lived together for almost two years before getting married at the Grand Ballroom of The Plaza Hotel in New York City on March 18, 1993.^[23] Murphy and Mitchell had five children together: Bria L. Murphy (born November 18, 1989), Myles Mitchell (born November 7, 1992), Shayne Audra (born October 10, 1994), Zola Ivy (born December 24, 1999) and Bella Zahra (born January 29, 2002). In August 2005, Mitchell filed for divorce, citing "irreconcilable differences". The divorce was finalized on April 17, 2006.^[24]

He also has a child by Tamara Hood: son Christian Murphy (born on 29 November 1990).^[25]

Murphy as of 2008 resided in Long Island, New York.^[26]

Following his divorce from Mitchell, in 2006, Murphy began dating former Spice Girl Melanie Brown, who became pregnant and stated that the child was Murphy's. When questioned about the pregnancy in December 2006 by RTL Boulevard, Murphy told Dutch reporter Matthijs Kleyn, "I don't know whose child that is until it comes out and has a blood test. You shouldn't jump to conclusions, sir". Brown gave birth to a baby girl, Angel Iris Murphy Brown, on Murphy's 46th birthday, April 3, 2007. On June 22, 2007, representatives for Brown announced in People that a DNA test had confirmed that Murphy was the father.^[27] Brown has stated in an interview that Murphy has not sought a relationship with Angel.^[28][29]

Murphy exchanged marriage vows with film producer Tracey Edmonds, former wife of Kenneth "Babyface" Edmonds, on January 1, 2008, in a private ceremony on an island off Bora Bora.^[30] On January 16, the couple released a statement saying, "After much consideration and discussion, we have jointly decided that we will forego having a legal ceremony as it is not necessary to define our relationship further," and called the Bora Bora wedding a "symbolic union". The two had planned on having a legal ceremony upon their return to the U.S. but did not, and their wedding was never official.^[31]

Legal problems[link]

According to Murphy's childhood friend Harris Haith in his book, Growing Up Laughing With Eddie, long before Murphy did any writing for Coming to America, Art Buchwald had approached Paramount Pictures with the idea for a similar film. His material was rejected, but the information was retained by Paramount. They liked Buchwald's idea but did not see fit to pay him and saved it for use later down the road. Some years later, Paramount presented the idea of Coming to America to Eddie and gave him the contract. Murphy wrote a screenplay that came to light exactly as it aired on the silver screen. In 1988, Buchwald sued Murphy and Paramount Pictures, but Murphy was not found liable because Paramount had received the material.

Philanthropy[link]

Murphy has donated money to the AIDS Foundation, and cancer, education, creative arts, family/parent support, health and homeless charities. He has donated to the Martin Luther King Jr. Center, various cancer charities and $100,000 to the Screen Actors' Guild's strike relief fund.^[32]

Filmography[link]

Television[link]

Discography[link]

Studio albums[link]

Compilation albums[link]

Singles[link]

Awards/nominations[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Eddie Murphy

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Eddie Murphy

• Eddie Murphy at the Internet Movie Database
• Eddie Murphy at Allmusic
• Eddie Murphy on Discogs
• Maxim Rated Top SNL performer

William John Charles, CBE (27 December 1931 – 21 February 2004), commonly known as John Charles, was a Welsh international footballer best remembered for spells with Leeds United and Juventus. Rated by many as the greatest all-round footballer ever to come from Wales,^[2] he was equally adept at centre-forward or centre-back. He has since been included in the Football League 100 Legends and was inducted into the Football Hall of Fame.

He was never cautioned or sent off during his entire career,^[3] due to his philosophy of never kicking or intentionally hurting opposing players. Standing at 6 feet 2 inches, he was nicknamed Il Gigante Buono – The Gentle Giant.

His brother, Mel Charles and nephew Jeremy Charles, also represented Wales.

Biography[link]

Charles was born in the Cwmbwrla district of Swansea during late 1931. Charles would play football as a child, with younger brother Mel Charles who also went on to become a professional, later playing alongside each other for the Welsh national team.^[4]

While still at school, Charles joined the boys section of the local team Swansea Town, who later became Swansea City. When he left school at age 14, he was taken onto the groundstaff at Vetch Field, yet because of his young age; Third Division Swansea never gave him a first-team call up. His only senior appearances came for the reserve side in the Welsh Football League.

Leeds United first spell[link]

While playing for Gendros, a local youth club, he was scouted by Leeds United and given a trial in September 1948. At his trial he impressed and duly signed for them at the age of 17, relocating to Yorkshire.

Major Buckley, then manager of Leeds, selected Charles in a variety of positions including right-back, centre-half and left-half for Leeds Reserves.

Charles made his first team debut as a centre back for Leeds United in a friendly versus Dumfries club Queen of the South on 19 April 1949. Charles was tasked with marking the Scotland centre forward who in winning 3–1 ten days before at Wembley had run the England defence ragged, Billy Houliston. The score was 0–0. After the game Houliston said 17 year old Charles was "the best centre-half I've ever played against".^[5]

Charles in 1954, Wales versus Scotland, Ninian Park

Charles made his league debut against Blackburn Rovers also in April 1949, playing at centre-half. From 1950 until 1952 Charles was away on National Service with the 12th Royal Lancers at Carlisle. The army allowed him to turn out for Leeds but also saw to it that he played for them, and in 1952 Charles skippered his side to the Army Cup. It was during this period that he had operations to repair cartilages in both knees.

After his return to the Leeds side in November 1951 Charles played at centre-forward and centre half. This prompted a debate as to where Charles should play in the team, but he remained at centre-half until the 1952–53 season. In October 1952, he was switched to Centre forward and immediately started to score, with 11 goals in 6 games. He scored 150 league goals in eight years for Leeds, including 42 goals in the 1953–54 season.

Playing in Italy with Juventus[link]

In August 1957 he joined the Italian club Juventus F.C. for a then-British-record £65,000 transfer fee, almost doubling the previous record. The transfer was notable as Charles became one of the first British professional players to be signed for an overseas team after John Fox Watson led the way moving from Fulham to Real Madrid in 1948.

His debut came on 8 September 1957 against Hellas Verona. Goals from Boniperti and Sivori had made the score 2-2 when up popped Charles to score the winner. The following week he scored the only goal in the victory over Udinese and he then hit the decisive strike in a 3-2 victory over Genoa. He had been the matchwinner in his first three games.

In his first season in Italy, Charles was Serie A's top scorer with 28 goals, and was voted player of the season as Juventus won the Scudetto. He played in Turin for five years, scoring 93 goals in 155 matches, winning the scudetto (Italian league championship) three times, and the Italian Cup twice. He was 3rd in the Ballon d'Or (Golden Ball) in 1959.

Charles with Sivori and Boniperti at Juve.

Charles was dubbed as ‘Il Gigante Buono’ (The Gentle Giant) during his five seasons with Juventus. The respect Charles earned from Juventus fans was shown when, on the occasion of the club's centenary in 1997 they voted him to be the best-ever foreign player to play for their team.^[6]

Returning to Britain[link]

Following his time at Juventus F.C., Don Revie paid a club record £53,000 to secure the return to Yorkshire of John Charles. As a result of the excitement this created, Leeds United raised admission prices for the start of the 1962-63 season. Charles second spell at Elland Road was less successful. After five years in Italy he found it difficult to adjust to life and football back in England. After 11 games and three goals - a shadow of his former strike rate - Charles was sold for £70,000 to A.S. Roma. Initially, the move was a success and Charles scored within fifteen minutes of his first game for Roma, in a match against Bologna. The early promise was never fulfilled, however, and Charles was on the move again a year later. He left to join Cardiff City where he stayed until 1966, which marked the end of his league career.

He later became manager of Hereford United and Merthyr Tydfil, and technical director of the Canadian team Hamilton Steelers, who he became coach of midway through the 1987 season.

International career with Wales[link]

Charles first played for the Wales national team shortly after his 18th birthday.

He played for Wales at the 1958 FIFA World Cup in Sweden – the only time the nation has qualified for the competition. It was also the only time all four of the Home Nations qualified for the same World Cup, though only Wales and Northern Ireland made it past the group stage.^[7] Wales remained undefeated in the group stage, battling to draws with Hungary (thanks to a Charles goal), Mexico, and eventual runners-up Sweden. As Hungary also recorded three points, a play-off match ensued, and Wales came from behind at the Råsunda Stadium to advance with a 2–1 win; however Charles was injured in the match and missed out on the rest of the tournament. The Welsh were eventually knocked out by Brazil in the quarter-finals thanks to a goal by Pelé in the 66th minute; the Brazilians went on to win the competition. Wales manager Jimmy Murphy said that "with John Charles in the side we might have won".^[8]

In total for Wales, Charles made 38 appearances and scored 15 goals.

Charles played for the Great Britain team against Ireland in 1955.

Life after football[link]

Following his retirement from football, Charles became the landlord of the New Inn public house on Elland Road, Churwell, Leeds which later was also managed by another Leeds United and Wales international legend Byron Stevenson.^[9] Charles was awarded a CBE in 2001, and until shortly before his death he continued to attend every Leeds United home game. In 2002 he was made a vice-president of the Football Association of Wales, and in 2003, he was granted the freedom of the city of Swansea. There was a campaign to knight John Charles,^[10] but it never came to fruition. Charles became an Inaugural Inductee to the English Football Hall of Fame in 2002. The West Stand of the Elland Road Stadium is named "The John Charles Stand" in his honour for the great service he provided to Leeds United and a bust was created, financed by Leeds United Chairman Ken Bates, to be displayed in the entrance to the banqueting suite (attached to the back of The John Charles Stand) in his remembrance.^[11] The South Leeds Stadium, used by Leeds United for reserve matches, was renamed the John Charles Stadium in his honour. There is also a street named "John Charles Way" Close to the Elland Road Stadium^[12]

In January 2004 he suffered a heart attack shortly before an interview for Italian television, and required the partial amputation of one foot for circulation reasons before he was returned to Britain. He died in Pinderfields Hospital, Wakefield, West Yorkshire, early on 21 February 2004. His widow, Glenda, bequeathed his ashes to the city of Swansea.^[13]

In 1998, the Football League, as part of its centenary season celebrations, included Charles on its list of 100 League Legends.

On 29 November 2003, to celebrate UEFA's Jubilee, he was selected as the Golden Player of Wales by the Football Association of Wales as their most outstanding player of the past 50 years.^[14]

In 2004, Charles was voted at number 19 in the 100 Welsh Heroes poll.^[15]

Ability[link]

In the foreword for Charles' autobiography, Sir Bobby Robson described him as "incomparable" and classed him among the all-time footballing greats such as Pelé, Diego Maradona and George Best. He also notes that Charles is the only footballing great to be world class in two very different positions.

"John wasn't only one of the greatest footballers who ever lived. He was one of the greatest men ever to play the game.

—Sir Bobby Robson.^[16]

Jimmy Greaves once stated that "if I were picking my all-time great British team, or even a world eleven, John Charles would be in it". Other footballers have also named him as one of the best, including Jack Charlton,^[17] Nat Lofthouse^[18] and Billy Wright.^[18] Jack Charlton said "he was the best header of the ball I ever saw in my life."^[16]

Charles' accomplishments with Juventus led to him being voted 'the greatest foreign player ever in Serie A', ahead of Maradona, Michel Platini, Marco Van Basten and Zinedine Zidane – this in 1997, 34 years after his last appearance in the league. In 2001 he became the first non-Italian inducted to the Azzurri Hall of Fame.^[19]

Honours[link]

• Serie A: Champions (1958, 1960, 1961)
• Coppa Italia: Winners (1959, 1960)
• Welsh Cup: Winners (1964, 1965)
• Italian Player of the Year: 1958
• The John Charles Centre for Sport in Leeds is named after Charles.
• The West stand at Elland Road is named "The John Charles Stand" and the entrance lobby to the Banqueting Suite attached to the back of the stand contains a bust of Charles, in memory of all he did for the club.
• A street near Elland Road in the Lower Wortley area of Leeds is named "John Charles Way"
• The John Charles Lounge in Aberystwyth Town Football Club's ground is named after Charles

Career statistics[link]

These statistics are incomplete, missing figures indicated by –

References[link]

Further reading[link]

• Mario Risoli, 'John Charles, Gentle Giant' (Mainstream Publishing 2003, ISBN 978-1-84018-802-8)
• Richard Coomber, King John, the true story of John Charles, Leeds United Legend, Leeds United Publishing, 2000, ISBN 978-1-903415-00-9

Charles, Mel; Colin Leslie (2009). In the Shadow of a Giant. John Blake Publishing. ISBN 1-84454-776-0. 

External links[link]

• English Football Hall of Fame Profile
• UEFA.com – Wales' Golden Player
• John Charles – A True Leeds United Legend – LeedsUnited.com
• Leeds United Fan Club – John Charles
• John Charles at the Wales Video Gallery
• Tribute at Gomersal Park Hotel

v t e Wales squad – 1958 FIFA World Cup 1 Kelsey 2 Williams 3 Hopkins 4 Sullivan 5 M. Charles 6 Bowen (Captain) 7 Medwin 8 Hewitt 9 J. Charles 10 I. Allchurch 11 C. Jones 12 K. Jones 13 Vearncombe 14 Edwards 15 C. Baker 16 Crowe 17 Leek 18 Vernon 19 Webster 20 Elsworthy 21 L. Allchurch 22 G. Baker Coach: Murphy

Charles Walters (November 17, 1911 – August 13, 1982) was a Hollywood director and choreographer most noted for his work in MGM musicals and comedies in from the 1940s to the 1960s.

He was born in Pasadena, California, and educated at the University of Southern California, Los Angeles.

He is notable for directing Esther Williams' musicals involving underwater swimming and diving sequences, such as Dangerous When Wet, as well as several musicals starring Leslie Caron, such as Gigi (for which he is uncredited) and Lili. He has also directed musical remakes, including High Society, a remake of The Philadelphia Story (1940), and Bundle of Joy, a remake of Bachelor Mother (1939). Walters also directed the last pairing of Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers, The Barkleys of Broadway, as well as Cary Grant in the actor's last film Walk, Don't Run.

Walters died from lung cancer at the age of 71.

According to William J. Mann's book, "Behind the Screen", Walters was gay.

Filmography as director[link]

• Ziegfeld Follies (1946)
• Good News (1947)
• Easter Parade (1948)
• The Barkleys of Broadway (1949)
• Annie Get Your Gun (1950), uncredited
• Summer Stock (1950)
• Three Guys Named Mike (1951)
• Texas Carnival (1951)
• The Belle of New York (1952)
• Lili (1953)
• Dangerous When Wet (1953)
• Torch Song (1953)
• Easy to Love (1953)
• The Glass Slipper (1955)
• The Tender Trap (1955)
• High Society (1956)
• Don't Go Near the Water (1957)
• Gigi (1958), uncredited
• Ask Any Girl (1959)
• Please Don't Eat the Daisies (1960)
• Cimarron (1960), uncredited
• Go Naked in the World (1961), uncredited
• Two Loves (1961)
• Billy Rose's Jumbo (1962)
• The Unsinkable Molly Brown (1964)
• Walk Don't Run (1966)

External links[link]

Biography portal

• Charles Walters at the Internet Movie Database
• Charles Walters at the Internet Broadway Database
• Charles Walters at Find a Grave